Baling press



. Jul 9, 1940. w. STEINHAUER 2,207,032

BALING PRESS Filed April 8, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l F770 19/1/5 yrs July9, 1940.

W. L. STEINHAU ER BALING PRESS Filed April 8, 1939 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2FTrOP/VEYLS' y 9, 1940. w. STEINHAUER 2,207,032

BALING PRESS Filed April 8, 1959 3 SheetsSheet 5 Zia/5M 70/? PatentedJuly 9, 1940 PATENT OFFICE BALING PRESS William L. Steinhauer,

Columbus, Ga., assignor to Cen-Tennial Cotton Gin Company, Columbus,Ga., a corporation of Georgia Application April 8, 1939, Serial No.266,809

9 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in presses forbaling cotton or like material.

In the past, considerable di'fliculty has beenexperienced in balingpresses caused by the expansive urge of the cotton when beingcompressed. This expansion is so great at times that it puts an undueload onto the baling door and lock mechanisms on the baling doors. Theexpansion outwardly in a bale of cotton is very slight, being aboutone-half inch, but the pressure exerted is about one-half of the totalpressure applied to the plungers. After the cotton lint is set by thetramper in the bottom boxes and top baling compartment underneath thedogs and pressure is applied packing the bale, the sidewise pressure ofthe cotton becomes great enough to do damage to the frame and panels ofthe bailing compartment.

m Accordingly, the principal object of my invention is to overcome theabove defined defect in prior baling press constructions and Iaccomplish this object by providing a set of doors using a rigid frame,which is composed of the baling door channels and the door lockingclamps, using, however, a floating panel mounted on springs, the springsbeing strong enough to Withstand the original tramping load, but areresilient enough to allow the baling doors to ex- M pand slightly whenthe full pressure of the ram,

or rams, is applied.

In using a cushion type door with more than enough expansion room thanwill ever be required for the expansive sidewise urge of the cotton, theactual pressure on the frame members can be ascertained and the framemembers can be built considerably lighter than if it were necessary totry and hold this expansion. Thus, a further object of the presentinvention is to construct a press of lighter weight and at a lower costthan has been done heretofore.

The invention also resides in certain novel features of construction,combination and arrangement of the various parts and in certain modes ofoperation, all of which will be readily understood and appreciated bythose skilled in the art upon reference to the accompanying drawings inconnection with the detailed description appearing hereinafter.

In the drawings wherein the same reference characters have beendesignated the same parts in all views,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view illustrating a two-story double boxcotton press incorporating 86 my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of one of the doors disclosed in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan View of one of the press boxes. I

Figure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a detail section through a corner of the box illustratingthe function of the clamping members.

The present invention is illustrated as applied to the press boxes of atwo-story up-packing double box hydraulic press, the general arrangementof which is indicated more or less conventionally, but which issufficient to illustrate the use and adaptation of the presentinvention. The specific form of press is shown for illustrative purposesonly, the invention not being limited in its application to anyparticular type of press.

In the form of press illustrated, l designates the support havingvertical columns 2 and 3 and upper cross members 4 and 5 constitutingthe main framework of the press.

Cross member '4 supports the tramper mechanism shown in Figure l, butwhich forms no part of the present invention, although designated as 6for purposes of convenience and reference.

Suitably mounted in the frame member is column I. The duplicate pressboxes 8 and 9 are swingably supported on this column I, the press boxesbeing connected by the substantially circular platform ID.

The press also includes movable bottoms or follow blocks l2 in each ofthe press boxes which are adapted to be engaged by a ram to force themovable bottoms upwardly so that the material in the press is carriedinto the baling portion at the upper end of each of the boxes and firmlycompressed therein against the head block l3 carried by the upper frame5.

The press itself is, of conventional type. The tramper 6 feeds thecotton into the box as shown in Figure 1. While this is going on, theram II is acting upon the follow block I 2 in the other press box 8 forcompressing the cotton upwardly toward the head block IS. The followerblock l2 forms the bottom of the press box. The tramper will fill thebox with cotton substantially to the top. The follower block l2, underthe influence of ram ll compresses the cotton into the upper end of thebox which is formed by the door members which will be referred to lateron.

The press boxes 8 and 9 are identical in construction and at this point,particular attention is called to the fact that as a result of therotation of boxes 8 and 9 about column 1, in the position of the pressas seen in Figure 1, box 9 discloses the front wall whereas box 3discloses the rear wall. Since the two boxes are of the sameconstruction, a description of front wall Id of box 9 and rear wall l5of box 8 will serve as a description of the front and rear walls of bothboxes. Thus, the numerals designating the various parts of front wall Hiof box 9 will designate like parts of front wall of box 8, and thenumerals designating the various parts of rear wall N5 of box 8 willdesignate like parts of the rear wall of box 9.

As seen in Figure l, the upper part of wall [4 is disclosed as thenon-lock side baling door Hi. The upper part of wall 15 forms thelocking side baling door H. The door ll broadly comprises panels 48mounted on channel bars i9 20, 2| and 22. The door it broadly comprisespanels 18 mounted on channel bars 23, 23, 25 and 23. The specific mannerof mounting the panels on the channel bars to obtain a floating actionfor the panels comprises the inventive concept of the present inventionand will be described in detail later on.

The doors l3 and H, as usual, carry the dogs 2l' which extend into thepress boxes. Also conventional, as shown on the locking door H, is thelock wheel 28, door lock toggles 29 and worm wheel 38.

A detail description of the manner of mounting the panels on the channelmembers will now be given. The channel members 23 and 24 are connectedby spaced bolts 3|, 3i herein shown as two in number, and the channelmembers 25 and 23 are similarly connected by bolts 32, 32. The panelsiii are welded or otherwise joined to channel members 33. A relativelyshort channel member 34, of sufficient length to bridge the bolts 32(see Figures 2 and 5), is disposed between the lower channel members 25and 25. This channel member 34 is located between the bolts and thechannel member 33. A plurality of springs 35 are disposed between thechannel members 33 and 36. There is a cup 350 suitably secured to theouter face of the channel member 33 for each spring, and this cup servesto locate and support the spring. These springs 35 bear against thechannel members 34 as an abutment and normally tend to move the panels[8 inwardly and away from the channel members 25 and 25. There is asimilar channel member 34 between the channel members 23 and 24 whichbears against the bolts 3 I, and also similar springs 35 bearing againstthe upper channel member 33.

Attached at each end of the channel members 33, 33 are bolts 36. Thesebolts may be welded or otherwise secured to the channel members 33. Thetwo upper bolts 36 lie between the channel members 23, and 2 1, and thetwo lower bolts lie between the channel members 25 and 26. Extendingbetween the channel members 23 and 2 5 is a plate 37 which is welded orotherwise secured to the channel members. There is also a straddle plate38 welded tothe channel members 23 and 23. These plates 31 and 38 areprovided with openings through which the bolts 35 pass. These openingsare dimensioned so as to form a support for the bolts 36. The bolts 33between the channel members 25 and 26 pass through plates similar to theplates 31 and the straddle plate 38, and are supported and guidedtherein. Each bolt carries a collar 39 which is secured to the shaft bya suitable pin 390.. A spring 40 abuts against the collar and againstthe straddle plate. These springs normally force the plates to the rightas viewed in Figure 4, until the collars are brought into contact withthe cross plates 31. Thus it is that the panel members l8 form a rigidpanel assembly which is yieldably supported by the door frame and thispanel assembly extends substantially from one side of the press box tothe other side thereof as shown in Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 3, it is seen that the panels extend in between theside walls 44 and 45. These side walls are in the form of doors hingedat the bottom for outward movement to permit removal of the bale fromthe press. As further shown in Figure 3, both the front and rear doorscarry a pair of brackets or clamps H for cooperation with the side doorsto clamp the doors in position and also serving to permit the side doorsto give slightly when the bale is being compressed. Each bracket orclamp 4! comprises a flat base portion 42 which is welded or otherwisesecured to the floating panel assembly adjacent the upper edge of thedoor, and a curved portion 43 which lies outside of the door members 44and 45. Thus, in the normal inward position of the floating panels, thebrackets 4| operate on side doors &4 and 45 to force them to theirclosed position. However, during the outward movement of the panelassembly resulting from the compression of the cotton within the press,the brackets will also move outwardly, and as a result of the curvedportions of the brackets, the side doors will open slightly, therebyrelieving the full pressure on said side doors. This action isillustrated by the dotted lines in Figure 6.

The construction described herein eliminates any possibility of warpingor straining the press. When the ram ll actuates the follow block l2into the upper part of the press which is defined by the doorshereinbefore referred to, the pressure becomes quite great, that is tosay, the lateral pressure of the cotton being compressed. However,instead of having a rigid set of doors to receive this pressure withconsequent warping and straining, with the present improvedconstruction, the panels of the front and rear walls will move outwardlyagainst the pressure of the springs thus taking up any lateral pressurecaused by the cotton. It is obvious that the amount of outward expansioncan be readily ascertained and the springs made sufiiciently strong toaccommodate the maximum expansion.

As disclosed in Figures 4 and 5, the panels are so mounted with respectto the transversely extending channel members as to leave a spacebetween the inner edges of the channel members and the outer face of thepanels. This allows sufiicient distance for the panels to move outwardlyas a result of the outward expansion of the cotton within the press. Itis also seen that the height of the channel irons 33 is such as to allowsaid irons to project into the space between the channel members withoutinterfering with said channel members.

Since the outward expansion of the cotton can be determined, the spacebetween the panels and the inner edges of the channels can be madesufficiently large to accommodate the maximum expansion of the cottonwithout contact between the panels and the channel members. Thus, sincethe channel members do not receive any load from the expanding cotton,the channel members may be made of a much lighter construction thanheretofore used resulting in lower costs for the press.

Although the present disclosure shows the floating panels in the frontand rear doors only, it is obvious that the present inventioncontemplates the use of floating panels in the end doors if so desired.

Thus it will be seen that the construction herein shown and described iswell adapted to accomplish the objects of the present invention. It willbe understood, however, that the invention may be embodied otherwisethan here shown and that in the form illustrated, certain changes in theconstruction may be made. Therefore, I do not wish to be limitedprecisely to the construction herein shown except as may be required bythe appended claims considered with reference to the prior art.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: i

1. In a baling press, a press box comprising a plurality of doors, atleast one of said doors formed of panels, a plurality of reinforcingmembers extending transversely of the panels and spaced therefrom, andyieldable means mounting said panels to the reinforcing members forpermitting outward movement of the panels upon outward pressure withinthe press box.

2. In a baling press, a press box comprising a plurality of doors, atleast one of said doors formed of panels, a plurality of reinforcingmembers extending transversely of the panels and spaced therefrom, meansfor mounting said panels on said reinforcing members, and a series ofsprings mounted between the panels and the reinforcing members forpermitting limited outward movement of the panels upon outward pressureagainst said panels.

3. In a baling press, a press box comprising a plurality of doors, apair of oppositely disposed doors formed of movable panels, reinforcingmembers extending transversely of the panels and spaced therefrom, meansfor mounting said panels on said reinforcing members, and yieldablemeans mounted between the panels and the reinforcing members urging thepanels inwardly but permitting outward movement of said panels uponoutward pressure within the press box.

4. In a baling press, a press box comprising a plurality of doors, apair of oppositely disposed doors formed of movable panels, reinforcingmembers extending transversely of the panels and spaced therefrom, meansfor mounting said panels on said reinforcing members, yieldabl e meansmounted between the panels and the rein-- forcing members urging thepanels inwardly but permitting outward movement, and means at the edgesof said oppositely disposed doors for cooperating with the edges of theother pair of doors for'clamping said latter pair ofdoors in closedposition.

5. In a baling press, a press box comprising a plurality of doors, apair of oppositely disposed doors formed of movable panels, reinforcingmembers extending transversely of the panels and spaced therefrom, meansfor yieldably mounting said panels on said reinforcing members, theother pair of doors hingedly mounted at their lower ends, and means onsaid panels adjacent their upper edge for cooperating with the edges ofthe hinged doors for clamping said latter pair of doors in closedposition.

6. In a baling press, a press box comprising a plurality of doors, apair of oppositely disposed doors formed of movable panels, reinforcingmembers extending transversely of the panels and spaced therefrom, meansfor yieldably mounting said panels on said reinforcing members, theother pair of doors hingedly mounted at their lower ends, and clampingmembers joined to said panels adjacent their upper edge, said clampingmembers having angularly disposed portions for cooperating with thehinged doors for holding said doors in closed position.

7. In a press, a press box comprising a plurality of doors, at least oneof said doors formed of outwardly movable panels, a pair of reinforcingmembers extending transversely of the panels and spaced therefrom, boltsconnecting the reinforcing members, a bar bridging said bolts 'betweenthe bolts and panels, and resilient means interposed between the bar andpanels for urging the panels inwardly against any outward pressurewithin the box.

8. In a baling press for cotton, a press box comprising a plurality ofdoors, at least one of said doors formed of outwardly movable panels, abar transverse of said panels and connecting said panels, a pair ofreinforcing members extending transversely of the panels and spacedtherefrom, bolts connecting the reinforcing members, a channel barbridging said bolts between the bolts and said panel connecting bar andspring means between the channel bar and the connecting bar for urgingthe connecting bar inwardly.-

9. In a cotton baling press, a press box comprising a plurality ofdoors, at least one of said doorsformed of outwardly movable panels, abar connecting said panels, a pair of reinforcing members extendingtransversely of the panels and spaced therefrom, a straddle platebridging the outer edges of the reinforcing members and substantiallyparallel to the plane of the panels, a

